They also think the program, which launches in the fall, may help students sit behind a computer-assisted designstation several years earlier than students in other architecture programs.

U of M architecture student Chris Wingate is one of two students participating in a pilot internship that will be a component of the M.S. in research practices. During the 29-year-old’s internship for Minneapolis-based MS&R Architecture, Wingate wrote a strategy for using energy modeling software to make early design decisions. His work stood out.

Tom Meyer, a founding principal with the firm and Wingate’s mentor, said it’s rare to find a newly minted architect who can both design and pursue research. That makes a difference in a hiring decision.

“He worked on a real world project,” said Meyer, who also teaches design at the U of M.

The master’s in research practices is a two-semester graduate program. Students will undertake research projects in professional internships with the assistance of School of Architecture professors.

The curriculum for the degree depends on the needs of the participating architecture firms. While Wingate was working with software at MS&R, the other pilot student, Jenna Johansson, used a virtual reality environment to research hospital patient room design for Minneapolis-based HGA Architects.

Students work on research projects in the firms, guided by at least one professional mentor and by a professor at the School of Architecture. Professors say the program’s intent is to teach project leadership skills and give students professional experience before they graduate.

The school plans to open the program to four to eight students per year. By comparison, 45 to 50 students graduate annually from the master’s of architecture program. Students must earn their master’s in architecture before starting the research practices degree.

The new program, which offers 930 hours of credit toward the 5,600 hours of academic and professional experience that are required for licensure, could put licensed architects in the field by age 30 by accelerating their internship requirement.

Renée Cheng, head of the School of Architecture and professor, developed the new master’s track after the council updated its internship development program in 2009 to allow academicinternships to count toward the schooling requirement for architects. Previously, students could do internships only outside of an academic program.

Cheng pursued the new curriculum because she wants U of M architecture grads to have an opportunity to do work that’s typically taught only in Ph.D. programs. To date, the master’s in research practices is the only one of its kind in the United States, she said.

Speeding the progress toward an architect’s license is a secondary benefit, Cheng said. Her primary goal is to put younger minds on a peer level with their professors and employers.

“They were at the table at a much higher level of discussion,” Cheng said of the two pilot students. “They were more at a leadership level.”

Students could get licensed upon graduation, provided they have enough internship hours and pass licensing exams.

One of the field’s governing bodies is pushing to put architects into the field as soon as possible. A 2012 study by McGraw Hill Construction, completed on behalf of the American Institute of Architects, found that 79 percent of U.S. architecture firms think there aren’t enough architecture graduates to replace retiring architects.

MS&R is looking to hire two architects. Meyer does not know whether retirements will drain the field of seasoned professionals, but says that working with the U of M’s research practices students is changing his perspective on new hires.

“It’s not like just hiring another student,” he said. “To have somebody to do research at a reasonable price is a great opportunity.”

Jim Lutz, an architecture professor who assisted Cheng in developing the new program, said many architects left the field permanently after the 2008 construction industry downturn. Departures continue as baby boomers retire, he said.

The program will not be a fit for all architecture grads. Wingate said the program increases a student’s workload. Additionally, it may not appeal to students focused solely on design.

“You have to be able to do research in the first place,” he said.

It’s also expensive. According to the university’s tuition calculator, the retail price of a seven-year architecture program is $127,000 for an in-state student. The master’s in research practices adds as much as $24,000 to that tuition amount. Even so, students in the program qualify as research assistants and will be paid for their internship time at architecture firms.

Wingate said the extra effort and expense might be justified in the current market. Without some distinguishing experience, he said, the probability of being hired right out of school is low. That’s not a prospect he wants with perhaps a year left before he is licensed.

“It’s still incredibly competitive,” he said, noting he has talked informally with Meyer about working for MS&R. “This program gives you a large advantage when you’re looking for a job.”

Twenty-seven-year-old Johansson, the other U of M student in the pilot, said the field experience she gained through the program is a “huge benefit.”